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Edinburgh Primary Schools Commonwealth Swim Relay Gala and Diving Competition at Royal Commonwealth Pool brings together over 500 youngsters from the City

We are delighted to organise and run the gala during the Commonwealth year with record numbers of schools and pupils attending. This is largely thanks to our specialist swim team. It is a fantastic opportunity for young swimmers to enjoy competition in relay teams and to experience the Royal Commonwealth Pool just a few months before the Games begin.

The Edinburgh Primary Schools Commonwealth Swim Relay Gala and Diving Competition was held on Wednesday 2nd April at the Royal Commonwealth Pool. The event, which is held annually, is a celebration of swimming/aquatics and brings together 45 primary schools and over 500 youngsters from across the city to show off their swimming and diving skills. It was attended by Edinburgh-based Gael Logan, who will be leading the Scottish Women’s Team at the Commonwealth Water Polo Championships in Aberdeen from 5 - 12 April.

The ethos of the event is about fun, participation and teamwork, with primary-aged children swimming relays in front crawl, backstroke and breast stroke. The gala is the culmination of many weeks of swimming lessons for the youngsters through a comprehensive primary school swimming programme delivered by the City of Edinburgh’s swimming specialists. The majority of primary schools across the city take up this fantastic opportunity ensuring all the children in these schools learn the fundamental swimming skills and water confidence.

A spokesperson from Edinburgh City Council said: “We are delighted to organise and run the gala during the Commonwealth year with record numbers of schools and pupils attending. This is largely thanks to our specialist swim team. It is a fantastic opportunity for young swimmers to enjoy competition in relay teams and to experience the Royal Commonwealth Pool just a few months before the Games begin. A big thank you to our Active Schools team and Edinburgh Leisure staff who support the event each year.”

Edinburgh City Council and Edinburgh Leisure work in partnership to ensure every child can swim in the city. They have won national recognition from the sport’s governing body, Scottish Swimming, for the aquatics programmes they deliver. Scottish Swimming’s Director of Development, Sharon MacDonald, said: “Scottish Swimming want to ensure every child in Scotland learns to swim. The programme, delivered by Edinburgh City Council and Edinburgh Leisure, is a fantastic example of best practice, where the two organisations work together to ensure more children learn to swim by lowering the child to teacher ratio.”

Scottish Women’s Water Polo captain, Gael Logan, who regularly trains in the Royal Commonwealth Pool, praised the efforts of Edinburgh City Council and Edinburgh Leisure: “It is great to see so many children getting the opportunity to learn the fundamental swimming skills and water confidence. Before starting playing water polo I was a swimmer myself. Confidence in the water is a great starting point to take up other aquatic sports like diving and water polo and a great start to a healthy lifestyle. Having the opportunity to train in a world-class facility like the Royal Commonwealth Pool helped us to prepare for the Commonwealth Water Polo Championships in front of a home-crowd in Aberdeen.